Health & Medicine
Through the study and use of genetics, we can identify measures that could lead to the improvement of human health and wellness. These methods and procedures aim to prevent years of chronic disease and thousands of dollars in health care costs, and provide families and communities with knowledge of how to live healthier.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
CRISPR’s promise: Balancing the benefits and risks of human gene editing
[W]hat if I told you [that a genetic mutation for cancer], passed down from generation to generation, can be snipped ...
Sickle cell cure now seen as possible as scientists remove faulty gene with CRISPR
Researchers have found a way to repair the faulty gene that causes sickle cell disease, which they suggest is a ...
Are GMO crops improving children’s IQ?
[Danny Hakim's October 29th article in the New York Times appears to suggest] that planting GMO crops has 1) lead to ...
Gene mutation that slows down brain activity found in people with autism
There is currently no cure for autism or treatments that tackle the core symptoms, only behavioral therapies and medications that ...
Designer bacteria: Genetically modified pills are a radical new way to treat rare stomach ailments
Designer bacteria are organisms that have been genetically modified to include a new function to make it do something it ...
How the ‘Millennial Brain’ has evolved to flourish in today’s interconnected world
While Millennials have been heavily criticized for their obsession with technology, they have been evolving as collaborators, multitaskers and consumers ...
US scientist Matt Ross briefly resigned from WHO cancer agency IARC over fears his emails would be made public
A scientist involved in an international organization researching cancer offered his resignation in April because of uncertainty over whether its ...
Fighting fat: Obesity is gene linked but losing weight is an act of will
You might be able to blame your genes for weighing more and increasing your risk of obesity, but you can ...
Brain injuries may be treatable using stem cell therapy
Results of a cellular therapy clinical trial for traumatic brain injury (TBI) using a patient’s own stem cells showed that ...
Could glyphosate cause other health problems even if it’s not carcinogenic?
GMO skeptics have raised health concerns about glyphosate beyond claims, proven unfounded, that they cause cancer. Here is what the ...
‘Three-parent’ IVF: Why the controversy, why the success
[Three-parent IVF] is rapidly progressing, causing widespread discussion on the ethics and social concerns of such a procedure. Although the donor ...
Why faulty genes don’t always lead to disease
We usually think of mutations as errors in our genes that will make us sick. But not all errors are ...
Should parents get preconception genetic testing?
Preconception genetic testing—also called carrier screening—is a way for parents to get a glimpse at their own genetic makeup and ...
Smoking one pack of cigarettes each day can cause 150 DNA mutations in single year
Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day causes an average of 150 mutations a year in lung cells, according to ...
Florida Keys voters back trial release of Zika-fighting GMO mosquitoes
On Tuesday, voters in the Keys voted by a solid majority to go ahead with a plan proposed by British ...
Andrew Revkin on the spectacular rise of humans: Journey into the Anthropocene
It’s been only a few decades since science began building a picture of the backstory to [humankind's] spectacular ascent. It’s a story ...
One family’s story of misdiagnosis reveals harsh reality: DNA tests aren’t perfect
Personal genetic tests and precision medicine are becoming increasingly popular tools but caution is appropriate. The technology is still evolving ...
Motivation to exercise may depend on your genes
At one point or another, we've all wondered: What makes some of us gym rats and some of us couch ...
Modifying gene-delivering viruses decreases risk of cancer in gene therapy
Scientists have developed a new safer gene therapy that may reduce the risk of cancer and can be used for ...
Pituitary problems decrease production of oxytocin, reduces empathy
Oxytocin is a hormone...[that] has earned the nickname "the love hormone" because we secrete it when we form bonds with our ...
Genetically altered mosquitoes have proven their reliability in tests across the globe
[In November 2016,] the first U.S. experiment to release genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes into the wild gets put to a ...
Why some people struggle with shift work fatigue: It’s in the genes
Some people adapt easily to shift work, but not everyone can handle constant disruptions to their daily rhythm. Finnish researchers ...
Does the herbicide glyphosate cause cancer? The GLP does a deep dive into the science
Glyphosate--an herbicide pioneered by Monsanto but now off patent--has emerged as a proxy for critics of crop biotechnology and intensive ...
How biologist Jeffrey Gordon’s once obscure study brought microbiome to forefront of health research
Jeffrey L. Gordon is a biologist and director of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington University in ...
Turning nightmares off: Genes related to sleep may answer why we dream
Waking suddenly sweating and with your heart pounding after a vivid nightmare can be terrifying no matter how old you ...
Ebola evolved during latest outbreak to become deadlier to humans
What made the recent Ebola outbreak in west Africa so virulent? The virus that seeped across borders and killed more ...
Questions about wisdom of early mammograms raise stakes for genetic profiling
Conflicting screening recommendations are sure to confuse women — which raises the importance of factoring in genetic factors in risk ...
